South Africa 0-3 Sweden: Banyana Banyana thumped in Cape Town

Banyana were comprehensively walloped by Sweden who, cruised to a 3-0 victory at the Cape Town Stadium

Banyana Banyana will be facing a tough test against Sweden, who are ranked number 10 on the Fifa Women’s Rankings.

Interim coach Desiree Ellis has termed this international friendly as a ‘non-negotiable’ win if they are to see how far they've come as a team.

The side has in the past failed to secure qualification to the Fifa World Cup despite securing back-to-back qualifications for the Olympic games.

The clash against the Scandinavian country comes as a fantastic boost against a highly-rated side, and Ellis is expecting a very good game from her opponents.

“What a fantastic preparation! [This time] Last year we played France, the No.3 ranked side in the world, this year we are playing Sweden who are No.10. It’s a good challenge for our players, to see if they can raise their level that little bit higher. The level we will play against Sweden will be much, much higher than any of them have been. It will be interesting to see what they still need to work on,” Ellis told Timeslive.

Players like Leandra Smeda, Amogelang Motau and Andile Dlamini will be expected to play a key role in helping Banyana secure the all-important victory after losing 2-0 to Nigeria a forth night ago.

Furthermore, Ellis has refreshed the squad in recent months following their Cosafa Cup triumph in Zimbabwe towards the end of last year, and she is happy with the current crop of players who continues to breakthrough the ranks.

“As the technical team, we said that players that raised their hands would be given an opportunity. Through that, players have seen new players coming in and they think to themselves, ‘OK, if she is given a chance, what is stopping me if I work that little bit harder I will get a chance’,” Ellis explained.

The last time the two sides met was at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, which the Swedes won 1-0.

During the 2012 Olympics held in London, Sweden hammered South Africa 4-1.